


Righting the Wrongs

by acelevi



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 21:15:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7007923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acelevi/pseuds/acelevi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I was saw a picture of a text message on Twitter and it was screaming Rintori at me, I had to write this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Righting the Wrongs

**Author's Note:**

> The title is just a work in progress as of now so it may or may not change in the future.

Nitori Aiichirou was by no means intimidating; even if he wanted to, he could never strike fear into anyone's heart. In his last year of high school, he served as the captain for the Samezuka swim team, despite being the human equivalent of a baby owl. He'd spent the entire first week of his third year thinking his previous captain, and former roommate, had made the biggest mistake ever appointing him as captain. His previous captain that he still found himself thinking about, even after three years; his former roommate that he was still hopelessly in love with, despite losing contact with him one month into summer vacation. To say Nitori was in deep was an understatement, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to keep Rin Matsuoka out of his mind. 

Not long after his own graduation, Nitori found himself caught up in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. He'd been accepted to the same university as Nagisa, even sharing an apartment not far from campus with him and Rei. Nagisa and Rei had decided to continue swimming and were fairing pretty well on the collegiate level, but Nitori found he no longer had the same drive and passion for being in the water that he used to. He supposed it was because he was taking time to get readjusted to city life but even well into his second year in college, he just couldn't get excited about it.

Nitori had gotten himself a job at a bar fairly close to his apartment. Despite never drinking very much himself, he was surprisingly talented at making drinks. He enjoyed the very slow nights the most: witnessing the beginning of many relationships, the end of many others, even giving advice to anyone troubled enough to turn to him in their drunken state. One of those nights, however, seemed to ruin them all for him. Sometime in December when Nitori was wiping down the counter before closing, he got an unexpected surprise. All the other patrons had left and he was about to shut off the open sign when he heard the heavy door creak open. With a quiet sigh, he turned to address the person, still drying the glass in his hand.

"I'm sorry, we're cl-" Nitori froze once he's looked up, almost dropping the glass in his hand. His former teammate, Sousuke Yamazkai, stood before him, a half smirk pulling up one side of his mouth as he continued forward to lean on the bar.

"Good to see you again too, Ai," he greeted as he looked over Nitori. "You grew some, huh? Not such a little shrimp anymore."

Nitori's eyebrows drew together in confusion as he set his glass down and nodded. "Y-Yeah, a little. Sousuke-senpai, what are you doing here? I thought you moved back home to work in your dad's shop?"

"We're not in high school anymore, Ai, you can call me Sousuke. And to answer your question, I just moved in a few streets over. I didn't know you worked here, though. Wouldn't have expected that from you."

Aiichirou nodded and let out a quiet laugh as he rolled his eyes. "Well, I needed a job and at the time this was the only place hiring. It's not that bad, I like it. It pays pretty well, too."

Sousuke nodded as well and pushed himself off the bar to sit on the stool behind him. Something in his expression changed, his face took on a more serious look. "Have you talked to Rin lately?"

Gaze quickly dropping down to the floor to try to hide his sadness, Nitori shook his head and cleared his throat a little. "No, not since the summer after you two graduated. I know he went back to Australia, though. Training for the Olympics and all that."

Sousuke nodded again and looked down as well. "Apparently he's getting married."

Nitori felt as if all the air had been knocked from his lungs. 

"He's what?" he asked sharply, tightly gripping the edge of the bar.

"Yeah. Called last night and asked if I would be his best man."

Nitori nodded slowly and pried his fingers off the granite surface before turning his back to Sousuke. "It's already past closing time and I think I need a drink. A very strong one. Do you want anything?"

**Author's Note:**

> The picture is up on my Twitter, along with wither commentary so if you would like to read that and join in my screaming at 4AM about gay swimmers and other animes, feel free to follow me @itsachiaotzu


End file.
